3/18/03: WP says two Heurich grandkids have signed contract for the Heurich mansion, hoping to use it as a historic house museum in conjunction with the United German American Committee. See "Heurich House's Fate May Be Family Affair," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23383-2003Mar13.html New store Housewares is now open on 17th St, two doors north of TrueValue store. WP previews Dupont Grille, the bold glass-enclosed patio on 19th St adjoining Jury's, opening soon. WP also looks at Sushi Taro's makeover, at 17th & P. See "The Weekly Dish," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9825-2003Mar11.html See WP review "Not Just for Tourists: Circle Bistro is a hotel restaurant even the locals could love," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47920-2003Mar5.html See "The Mister behind Mr. P's: John Mako talks about the early days of Dupont Circle's oldest gay bar, Mr. P's, and how things have changed since it opened nearly 30 years ago," http://www.washblade.com/point/030314outindc.php3 WEG sounds off on plan for block by 24th & L. See "Inside Story: District Dysfunctional on Columbia Hospital Condominiums," http://www.westendguide.us/opinion03.htm See "Renovated West End Library Expands Children's Area, But Area Has Few Children," http://www.westendguide.us/library2.htm Dedication of Masaryk memorial at 22nd & Mass was held March 8. See http://www.afocr.org/masaryk.htm See "Wireless Internet Coming Soon to Dupont Circle," [1] below. WP looked at 18th & M's Candey Hardware and other small stores. See "Surviving Corner Hardware Stores Have True Value: Small, Independent Retailers Indispensable to City Dwellers," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8219-2003Mar10.html WBJ looks at rooftop garden being included in HRC's new HQ being built at 17th & RI Ave. See "In some buildings, green design is over the top, really," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/17/focus11.html WP looks at crime trends between Dupont and Logan. See "PSA 309: Attitude Counts As Much as Crime Patterns," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12942-2003Mar11.html Cary Silverman reports on plans for 15th & P Duron to be replaced with condos and retail. See [2] below. LCCA says owner of Grillfish will open a restaurant in The Hudson, across from Fresh Fields, featuring "casual American comfort food with a twist." Logan Hardware is now open by Fresh Fields. See http://www.loganhardware.com Timothy Paul Carpets and Textiles is now open at 1404 14th St, featuring artistic rugs and textiles in a beautiful showroom - another coup for 14th St. WBJ says construction has begun on Andover House, a luxury high-rise at 14th and N with 171 units, to open next summer. See middle of "Real Estate," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/17/newscolumn6.html Blade profiled plant store at 14th & S. See "A blossoming local business: Joe Carmack, who opened the Garden District last May, is preparing for his first full spring season," http://www.washblade.com/locallife/030314cover.php3 Check out their new colorful paint job. Pulp will open soon with a "card bar," where folks can write and decorate their cards. Classes will be offered on topics from origami to gift wrapping. Barney Singer will open an art gallery in Pulp's mezzanine. El Paraiso Market has improved their facade by removing the roll-down bars & the fluorescent lights. Cafe Saint-Ex is now open, named after author of Le Petit Prince. See http://www.saint-ex.com/ LCCA reports Latin restaurant La Casona has opened on 11th St just below U St, from team that ran Casa Juanita's at 11th & NY Ave. WP profiles 38 luxury apartments at 16th & Euclid. See "Warder Mansion's Polished Past, Present-Day Luxury," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9264-2003Feb27.html WBJ profiled owner of Tryst and The Diner. See "Coffee cultured: Stavropoulos' Adams Morgan hotspots already provide comfort food, coffee and community; now he's leading a neighborhood revolution," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/03/story8.html See "Columbia Heights: the catalyst for rejuvenating Cluster 2?" http://www.narpac.org/REXCOLHI.HTM See "In Northwest, a Rancorous 12-Year Road War: It's Take No Prisoners in Class-Tinged Fight Over Reopening Klingle," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23032-2003Mar13.html Avalon Theatre expects to open early April, 5612 Conn Ave. See http://www.theavalon.org/ WP previewed G-town's new Mie N Yu restaurant, which has DC's first unisex restroom. See "The Weekly Dish," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64485-2003Feb25.html WP profiles G-town projects sprearheaded by Anthony Lanier, including Loews multiplex & furniture cluster Cady's Alley. See "An Antidote To the Retail Blahs," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22982-2003Mar13.html See also http://www.cadysalley.com/ See "Deal to Develop Wax Museum Site Stalls," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14115-2003Feb27.html See also "Developers' Deal for NW Site Fails: Plans for Old Wax Museum Delayed," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48291-2003Mar5.html See also "The Sticky Business of Developing D.C. Land," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63430-2003Mar8.html NYT looks at restaurants in Penn Quarter. See "For a Change, a City Talks Food, Not Just Politics," http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/05/dining/05WASH.html See "New Residences, Stores To Transform H Street: Williams Aims to Return Corridor to Prosperity," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2853-2003Mar9.html WP published a depressingly true warning to future DC residents. See "No Rest for the Weary: A Guide for D.C. Newcomers," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2851-2003Mar9.html WBJ looks at planning for Potomac Yard, "the biggest infill development in the country." See "Redevelopment of old rail yard waiting on load of money," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/17/focus2.html See "Vacant waterfront buildings in Old Town may get new life," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/10/story6.html WBJ provides an overview of Tysons Corner's future, with four Metro stations to a more urban, pedestrian- friendly place. See "Fairfax maps a new route for congested office center," http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/03/17/focus3.html See "Projects consider the car in planning," http://www.washtimes.com/business/20030228-82841320.htm Tonight, March 18: Dupont Public Safety Committee meeting, 7:00 pm at MPD 3rd District HQ, 1620 V St. See [3] below. Monday, March 24: Adams Morgan Transportation Forum, 3rd District Police HQ (1620 V St), 7pm. "Come hear DC Department of Transportation head Dan Tangherlini, joined by pedestrian and bicycle advocates, talk about transportation in Adams Morgan." Saturday, March 29: Great America Clean-Up, kickoff at 14th & U. Best regards, Michael ------------------------------------------------------ [1] Wireless Internet Coming Soon to Dupont Circle By Chick Yeager Free Wireless Internet is coming to Dupont Circle. What the New York Times described as an interesting “urban renewal project,” is growing as a number of cities and community groups are considering free wireless Internet access in downtown areas. The goal is to attract residents, workers and visitors alike into public areas that had seemed abandoned. Long Beach California is the most recent to join other cities with free wireless. Other cities include New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, Jacksonville, Florida, and other cities in this low cost attempt to re-populate park areas that used to be centers for general public relaxation. In addition to Long Beach, the Bay Area Wireless Regional Network in San Francisco is a hobbyist experiment, run by just four volunteers with a donated Internet connection, but the project illustrates the low costs of wireless networks based on the Industry’s 802.11 wireless standard. The new service will be one of the first in Washington to set up a free wireless Internet system. The project will use the increasingly popular standard known as Wi-Fi, which lets personal computers and other hand-held devices connect to the Internet without wires at high speeds. In Washington, a small group within Dupont Circle Citizens Association began to investigate the option of bringing wireless Internet to Dupont Circle as a way of bringing area residents back to the circle. As they looked into this project, they discovered that "Capital Area Wireless Network, Inc.," (CAWNet), a local non-profit group of WiFi enthusiasts, was also interested in providing a free public wireless node on Dupont Circle using donated equipment, bandwidth, and host space. CAWNet already has had the equipment donated and finished a site survey. Donors to the project will receive free advertising on a splash screen when the computer connects. The target date for getting the system running is the beginning of April. ------------------------------------------------------ [2] [from CSilverman@juno.com] THE COMMISH A Newsletter for Residents of Logan Circle’s ANC 2F01 Published by Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Cary Silverman v.1, no. 5, March 9, 2003 Metropolis to Propose Unground Public Parking at Duron Site, Retail/Residential Above Ground Metropolis Development, one of the companies handling the new condominiums and apartments on P and Church Streets, is developing plans for the site that is currently the Duron store. It is anticipated that Duron will move to a new location, on upper Fourteenth Street, in a few months. Metropolis is planning to place condos on the site. At ground level, the P Street side of the building would have retail space. Metropolis plans to bring residences back to Fifteenth Street with condos opening onto the street between P and Church Street. This will increase pedestrian traffic and bring vitality to a block that is currently a long brick wall. The building will include one underground parking space for each unit, with traffic entering on Church Street. Metropolis has proposed providing an additional one hundred pay parking spaces for public use, with traffic entering on P Street. This proposal will likely require the support of the city council and is in the preliminary stages. I hope that you support Metropolis’ initiative, which would go a long way toward our current lack of parking and accommodating anticipated additional residents and visitors in our neighborhood. ------------------------------------------------------ [3] Dupont Public Safety Committee Meeting - Tuesday, 03.18.03, 7 pm Location: Third District Police Station at 1620 V St. The newly revived Dupont Public Safety Committee which is a jointly sponsored by the Dupont Circle ANC, DC MAP, and Dupont Circle Citizens Association is meeting on March 18th at the Third District Police Station at 1620 V Street. Please spread the word. People who would like to be problem-solvers or liaisons on particular issues can be made committee members. This will be a forum to explore policies for improving the Public Safety (not for venting). Rob Halligan and Gil Hill are Co-Chairs. Rob Halligan is an ANC Commissioner from 2B01. Gil Hill is the Secretary of DCCA and long-time community activist. The first meeting was called off due to snow. Let's hope the second doesn't get cancelled due to the start of a war. (If the Iraq invasion starts, I imagine the police will be detained due to heightened terrorism concerns.) There have been lots of meetings and press coverage of and on the police and Public Safety in our neighborhood, recently. The purpose of the joint committee will be to codify these concerns and come up with solutions. We would like to spend some time requesting more agenda items but would not like to spend time giving more examples of problems. Commander Pendergrast who is the commanding officer for the 3rd District that encompasses most of Dupont, Logan Circle, Shaw, Adams Morgan, and Kalorama has agreed to attend. The list below contains problems and items for discussion that have so far been catalogued and that we think can be tackled by this committee. We'll do what we can to address these items. |